CCTV needed to stop illegal dumping in river, says Kilkenny councillor
'More dumping than ever' says Cllr Patrick O' Neill
Members of the Kilkenny City Municipal District have agreed a Notice of Motion calling on Kilkenny County Council to install mobile cameras at river access points in the city to tackle illegal dumping.
The motion was brought by Cllr Patrick O’Neill, who said the issue had been raised by people in both Bennettsbridge and Thomastown, who felt there was more illegal dumping going into the River Nore than ever before.
“In the last 12 to 18 months, they have been taking so much out of it,” he said. “Is there anything we can do to try and alleviate it?”
The Fine Gael councillor said the introduction of cameras had improved the appearance of local bottle/bring banks, and perhaps it can be emulated at river access points. Cllr Breda Gardner seconded the Notice of Motion and suggested it be brought to the council’s environment Strategic Policy Committee.
Cllr Andrew McGuinness said it was his understanding that staff from the council’s environment section already carry out this kind of work, and that if councillors contact them they will go and install mobile cameras at blackspots. He said he had always found them very responsive.
Cllr Malcolm Noonan said that a return/deposit scheme could be introduced to encourage behaviour change and get people to bring items back. He said that recently he had taken part in a cleanup and had been shocked by the scale of illegal dumping on the River Breagagh in the city.
“The amount of plastic and drink cans along a small stretch was astonishing,” he said.
Director of Services Tim Butler said the item would be brought to the council’s environment section, but CCTV was widely used throughout the county to catch offenders. He said 65 fines had been issued in the year to date, which was a “huge increase” on recent years.
“They are really working hard on this,” he said of the council’s environment team.